Com Hem considering a bid for Get?

Sweden’s Com Hem is said to be mulling an offer for Norwegian cableco Get, according to Reuters, which cites Swedish business daily Dagens Industri.

As previously reported by CommsUpdate, following on from reports in early February 2014 that the broadband provider was set to be sold, in April 2014 it was claimed that a rumoured sale of Get by its private equity owners could generate as much as NOK7.7 billion (USD1.3 billion). Subsequently, in May 2014 the group of investment companies that own the Norwegian cableco were said to have hired banks to advise on plans to list shares in the cableco on the stock market. With it suggested that the offering could actually value Get at around NOK15 billion, including debt, it was claimed that Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank would be global coordinators in the initial public offering (IPO), while UBS and Barclays were said to be involved as bookrunners. In terms of timing for the listing, it was suggested it would take place after the European summer, with one unnamed source cited as saying it will take place in September.

On the back of the rumours that Com Hem is interested in acquiring Get, Dagens Industri cited one source as saying that it is now more likely that the latter will be floated rather than sold outside the stock market, saying: ‘The stock market is currently paying well for this kind of companies.’